If you’ve ever wondered why some people seem naturally driven to exercise while you struggle with the motivation to lace up your sneakers, science has an answer. It can also help you develop strategies to overcome whatever you might lack in the genetics department.
To motivate yourself to exercise, examine your attitude toward exercise, understand how exercise is rewarding, create prods and pushes, personalize your approach, and consider whether genetics are a factor. Read more for details on these insights and strategies from several scientists and coaches.
Table of Contents
Strategy #1: Examine Your Relationship With Exercise
Before implementing any motivation strategies, it’s crucial to examine your current attitude toward physical activity. In their book Intuitive Eating, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch explain that your attitude toward exercise could be connected to your attitude toward food. For example, you might view exercise as a punishment for eating and feel the need to overcompensate with extra workouts after indulging in treats. This negative association can affect both your relationship with food and your motivation to engage in and benefit from regular exercise.
(Shortform note: In his book Bigger Leaner Stronger, Michael Matthews suggests that the inverse is also true: Some people use exercise to justify indulging in unhealthy eating habits, thinking they’ve earned the right to eat junk food after completing a workout. To counter this moral licensing, Matthews suggests applying the same approach to exercise as Tribole and Resch advise for food: Stop labeling your actions as good or bad. Instead, shift your focus to the overall benefits of exercise. By embracing a more balanced perspective, you can cultivate a healthier relationship with both food and physical activity.)
To improve your relationship with exercise and stay motivated, the authors suggest you approach exercise as a source of pleasure and fulfillment, rather than as a punishment or obligation. They provide five guidelines for changing your attitude toward exercise.
1. Shift your focus from appearance to feeling. Move from viewing exercise solely as a means to burn calories or change your body shape to recognizing its positive impact on your mood, energy levels, and overall well-being.
(Shortform note: Research suggests that avoiding fitness content aimed at altering appearance can help change your perspective and increase your motivation to exercise. Several studies reveal that seeking inspiration from this type of content may, in fact, decrease your motivation to exercise and leave you feeling more dissatisfied with your body. This is particularly true for people who want to exercise to achieve a certain appearance rather than to achieve a state of health.)
2. Explore and experiment. Try various forms of exercise to find what resonates with you the most, and engage in spontaneous movement that feels good to you, without the pressure of adhering to a strict exercise regimen.
(Shortform note: While allowing room for spontaneity is important, experts suggest focusing on four key types of exercise to ensure comprehensive well-being: aerobic exercises for cardiovascular health, strength training to build and tone muscles, flexibility exercises to improve range of motion, and balance exercises to reduce the risk of falls. Contrary to the misconception that structured routines limit variety, incorporating these four areas will provide numerous opportunities to inject spontaneity and different exercises into your workouts. You can explore different activities, try new exercises, or adapt your routine to suit your mood and preferences, making your fitness routine enjoyable, diverse, and sustainable.)
3. Make it social. Invite others to join you in your physical activities, as shared experiences can make the process more enjoyable and motivating.
(Shortform note: Studies support this suggestion, revealing that working out with others significantly boosts motivation to exercise for various reasons. When you commit to exercising with others, positive peer pressure, support, and encouragement naturally come into play, creating an uplifting environment. Additionally, having a workout partner enhances accountability, reducing the inclination to skip sessions. And finally, friendly competition pushes you to do your best, especially when exercising with fitter individuals. This atmosphere of camaraderie and challenge makes the experience more enjoyable, helps you release more endorphins, and leaves you eagerly anticipating the next workout.)
4. Set realistic goals, and celebrate progress. Establish achievable milestones, celebrate your progress, and avoid unrealistic fitness goals that may lead to burnout or disappointment.
(Shortform note: Experts offer a five-step process for setting and achieving realistic fitness goals: 1—Assess your current fitness level by considering strength, endurance, flexibility, and cardiovascular health to set appropriate goals. 2—Identify your priorities, such as muscle gain, flexibility, or overall health, to set specific objectives. 3—Use the SMART framework for goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. For example, aim to walk for 30 minutes three times a week. 4—Break long-term goals into manageable milestones, enabling you to celebrate small victories along the way. 5—Maintain motivation and accountability by tracking your progress with workout records, measurements, and achievements.)
5. Remember it’s a choice, not an obligation. You’re not obligated to exercise. You can always choose to take breaks when needed.
(Shortform note: Fitness experts suggest that taking well-timed breaks can benefit you in four ways, by helping you: 1—Avoid overexertion—Allowing your body to rest prevents excessive strain, enabling you to improve your fitness levels when resuming workouts. 2—Combat stress overload—Exercise itself can cause mental stress. Resting helps counter the negative effects of stress, particularly when cortisol levels are high. 3—Recharge motivation—Taking a break from constant discipline prevents willpower depletion, helping you stay focused on your fitness goals. 4—Enhance performance—Prioritizing breaks can help optimize your physical and mental capabilities, leading to improved performance in your workouts and daily activities.)
Once you’ve examined your attitude toward exercise, you can implement practical strategies to make it stick.
Strategy #2: Understand How Exercise Becomes Rewarding
In his book Exercised, Daniel E. Lieberman explains that exercise triggers reward systems in the body that help us find physical activity enjoyable. It releases chemicals such as dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins that give us a rush of excitement and pleasure, and even endocannabinoids that trigger a meditative state—a “runner’s high.” However, these chemicals only start working once you’ve started working out, so they don’t offer motivation to get started. In addition, Lieberman points out that these reward systems work best in people who are already physically active, making it harder for sedentary individuals to find exercise rewarding during their first workout sessions.
(Shortform note: While a “runner’s high” might be tricky to achieve if you’re only starting to work out regularly, there are other emotional benefits you can achieve as an exercise novice. In Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman says that exercise can help you fend off sadness, work through anger, and even lift mild depression. However, he cites research suggesting that the antidepressive benefit is heightened for those who don’t work out regularly.)
To get through the initial workouts where the reward systems aren’t yet kicking in, Lieberman echoes advice presented in Intuitive Eating discussed above: Make exercise more social. He notes that, throughout human history, physical activity such as hunting and foraging was typically done in groups. He suggests that making exercise social can help overcome natural resistance to physical activity, as social support can make exercise feel more enjoyable. Making exercise social can look like signing up for a group dance class or joining a walkers’ club at your local park.
Social support is powerful, but you may need additional structures to build consistency, especially during those first crucial weeks.
Strategy #3: Create Systems: Prods & Pushes
If you need more than social support and the promise of endorphins, Lieberman suggests making exercise necessary through prods and pushes.
Prods are gentle encouragements that guide you in the right direction. For example, you can sign up for the gym you walk by every morning on your way to class so you have a daily reminder to go in, or put your running shoes in the driver’s seat so they’re the first thing you see when you leave work.
You can also leverage the social aspect of exercise to make exercise necessary by designing pushes—forceful commitments with a social component. Examples of pushes include signing up for an office-wide weight loss challenge or asking your spouse to remind you to put a dollar in a jar every time you miss a workout.
To know which prods and pushes will work best for you, you need to understand your personality.
Strategy #4: Personalize Your Approach Based on Your Personality
In Atomic Habits, James Clear argues that five key personality traits indicate which behaviors you’ll gravitate toward and be successful with. Understanding where you fall on these spectrums can help you design prods and pushes that actually work for your unique personality.
1. Extroversion levels—from sociable to reclusive. If you’re extroverted, making exercise social, as Lieberman suggests, will be especially effective. However, if you’re introverted, it might make you less excited to exercise. If that’s you, find a prod that leverages other personality traits.
2. Openness to experience—from curious to cautious. If you’re curious, use a fitness tracker to track new activities you try or routes you explore. This will remind you to exercise and help you keep your exercise routine exciting. If you’re cautious, join a class that always meets at the same time. Knowing that others are expecting you to be there will be a helpful push.
3. Conscientiousness—from organized to spontaneous. If you’re organized, an effective prod might be a calendar that tracks how many workouts you do. If you’re spontaneous, keep a workout outfit in your bag, so you can easily work out when the mood strikes.
4. Agreeableness—from caring to withdrawn. If you’re caring, an effective push might be to work out with a loved one so you can help each other reach your fitness goals. If you’re withdrawn, invest in a home gym to work out without needing to interact with others.
5. Neuroticism—from fretful to assured. If you tend to fret, your prod might be to subscribe to health newsletters that discuss the importance of exercise. Each email will remind you to get a workout in your day. If you’re assured, sign up for a fitness challenge.
Strategy #5: Consider the Genetic Component
In The Sports Gene, David Epstein reveals intriguing research on mice and humans that suggests a genetic component to our desire to exercise. The findings might explain why your friend who runs marathons for fun seems like a different species.
In one experiment, researchers bred mice based on their desire to run on an exercise wheel. After several generations of breeding, the mice voluntarily ran much farther than previous generations—and their brains grew. The researchers hypothesized that the area that grew was likely the part of the brain that controls motivation.
The same brain changes weren’t seen in a population of mice bred to be “runners” by being forced to run. After many generations of breeding, these mice had larger hearts, less fat, and more symmetrical bones (the same was true for the voluntary runners), but their brains hadn’t grown like those of the voluntary runners. Epstein contends that these findings support the idea that there’s a genetic component to motivation.
Further research on exercise and motivation suggests that the way we process dopamine (which is a function of our genes) might play a determining role in our desire to exercise. In a follow-up experiment with the mice, when the group who were bred to love running were given dopamine, there was no change to their running habits. However, when the group of mice who had been forced to run were given dopamine, they began to voluntarily run more, presumably because they began to enjoy it.
(Shortform note: Dopamine is a chemical that carries messages between our neurons. It’s part of our brain’s reward system and helps us feel happy and satisfied. According to Psychology Today, dopamine improves our mood and increases our attention and motivation. Since dopamine makes us feel good, we tend to seek out activities that release dopamine. Having high levels of dopamine can make people more resilient and optimistic in the face of challenges. Exercise is one way to naturally increase dopamine production.)
Research on mice also showed that mice who showed an affinity for running on the wheel became agitated when they were denied exercise, further supporting the connection between dopamine, reward systems, and exercise motivation.
Epstein cites testimony from several highly successful athletes—Herschel Walker, Floyd Mayweather, Haile Gebrselassie, and Pam Reed—who identify as having a relentless drive, or need, to exercise. The findings of several research studies support exercise motivation being a function of our genes. A large study of nearly 40,000 sets of twins estimated that between half and three-quarters of exercise motivation was genetic. Epstein notes that differences in the way our bodies process dopamine can make some people more susceptible to drug addiction and suggests there might be similar genetic reasons that explain why some people have an extra powerful motivation to exercise.
But, what if you’re not genetically wired to love exercise? The good news is that understanding how motivation works—and knowing yourself—can help you develop strategies that work for you.
Putting It All Together
Yes, genetics play a role in exercise motivation—some people are naturally wired to crave physical activity while others have to work harder to develop the habit. But understanding this reality doesn’t mean you’re destined to be sedentary. Instead, it means you can stop comparing yourself to those naturally motivated individuals and start building systems that work for you.
The key is self-awareness. Examine your relationship with exercise honestly. Are you viewing it as punishment? Are you caught in a cycle of using it to justify unhealthy eating or to compensate for food choices? Once you’ve identified any negative associations, you can begin to reframe exercise as something you choose to do for how it makes you feel—not how it makes you look or what it allows you to eat.
From there, remember that your brain’s reward systems need time to kick in. Making exercise social taps into our natural wiring and can help you push through those first difficult weeks when the endorphins aren’t flowing yet. Design prods and pushes that gently (or not so gently) guide you toward your exercise goals.
Most importantly, personalize your approach based on your unique personality. An introverted, spontaneous person needs completely different strategies than an extroverted, organized one. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to exercise motivation.
Building motivation is a process, not an instant transformation. Experiment with different approaches, be patient with yourself, and remember that even small amounts of movement are better than none. The goal isn’t to become one of those people who naturally craves exercise; it’s to build a sustainable practice that enhances your life, regardless of your genetic starting point.
Explore Further
To understand exercise motivation in its broader context, check out Shortform’s guides to the books these ideas come from:
- Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch
- Exercised by Daniel E. Lieberman
- Atomic Habits by James Clear
- The Sports Gene by David Epstein
